CNET Editors' Rating

The GoodIntuitive and responsive browser interface; Gigabit LAN and WAN; excellent range; easy to setup; Network Activity Display offers quick access to a variety of network information; preset with a lot of settings for special services and applications, including games.

The BadRandom reset during heavy load.

The Bottom LineThe D-Link DGL-4500 GamerLounge Xtreme N Gaming Router almost succeeds for home networking and hardcore gamers. It bears a few flaws, among which is a random reset during heavy load that might be the deal breaker.

The D-Link DGL-4500 GamerLounge Xtreme N Gaming Router offers decent performance and a long list of features for home wireless networking and hardcore gamers. However, it lacks support for simultaneous 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands along with random resets during heavy loads. You may want to wait for a successor to the DGL-4500, or at least a firmware update, before buying it. With the hefty price tag of about $180, we expected better stability. Unless you plan to take advantage of the DGL-4500's GameFuel feature for prioritizing bandwidth for games, we still recommend D-Link's DIR-655 Xtreme N router for its superior performance or the Netgear WNR854T RangeMax for its speed, stability, and price.

The D-Link DGL-4500 is a MIMO router with three antennas attached to its back. We would prefer that they resided on the side of the unit where they wouldn't crowd the ports. Like most D-Link routers, the DGL-4500 is wall mountable and also ships with a base to position it vertically. The DGL-4500 features a Network Activity Display that shows more than only the network's connection status. Using the two display navigation buttons, you can access various WAN, LAN, and wireless information via this little blue screen. While most of the information is just general information--current throughput, number of connected clients--it is a bit more useful than the typical status LEDs found on other routers. While somewhat convenient, we found it this display frustrating because it turns on only when you press one of the navigation buttons, it turns itself off after about a minute, and there's no option to change the length of time it stays on. Why not just keep the display lit at all times by default, showing you your network connection status? It's not so bright as to be a distraction, even in a darkened room.

The DGL-4500 supports Microsoft's Windows Connect Now technology, which lets you add new wireless devices to the network without having to type in the encryption key. All you need to do is stick a USB drive in the USB port at the back of the router and then stick that drive into the USB port of a WCN-enabled devices, such as a PC (running Windows XP SP2 or later) or a printer such as the HP Deskjet 6840. Though it's faster and proved more stable in testing, the D-Link DIR-655 does not feature a USB port.

As a router designed specifically for gaming, the DGL-4500 features D-Link's proprietary GameFuel technology that identifies network traffic created by games and prioritizes Internet bandwidth to accommodate it. The router comes preset with settings optimized for popular games such as World of Warcraft, Quake, and Unreal Tournament, along with special services including virtual servers and remote desktop. These presets basically specify the port required to be open for each application and make sure it's open when required.

The DGL-4500 is a dual-band draft 802.11n router, meaning it supports both 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz frequencies. Unfortunately, it can only operate in one frequency at a time, which means you're forced to use one or the other. So, you'll be stuck on the crowded 2.4GHz band if you have other wireless devices that are 2.4GHz only. If you are looking for something that can do both simultaneously, you will have to wait for the D-Link's Xtreme N Duo Media Router, which is still available only as a preorder.

Other than this shortcoming, the DGL-4500 has everything you could want in the realm of home networking, be it security (all WEP, WPA, and WPA2 available) or virtual private networking (VPN pass-through, multisessions PPT, L2TP, and IPSec) as well as many other popular and advanced networking features. The D-Link's state-of-the-art Web interface is among the best we've used, it's intuitive and responsive and most changes can be applied instantly without a restart.

CNET editor Dong Ngo has been involved with technology since 2000, starting with testing gadgets and writing code for CNET Labs' benchmarks. He now manages CNET San Francisco Labs, reviews 3D printers, networking/storage devices, and also writes about other topics from online security to new gadgets and how technology impacts the life of people around the world.
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